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Hopeful French A-level student needs help : )

I really want to do french A-level but my GCSE is an average C, i use to get Bs but we were given a REALLY bad teacher so i'm surprised that i even got a C, I want to know if it's any good so what do you do and are most of the student A*/A (actually stupid question i bet they are) Also i know it's not too late so i have been thinking if i work really hard to get the best grade how many hours should i do? The test is about 2 months away
Thanks in Advance
P.S feel free to give extra tips :biggrin:
Reply 1
im warning you to NOT do it, i loved french i got A* at gcse and did it a year earlier, but a level is so different, im supposed to be getting A's, got an e in the paper and c on my speaking, im practically fluent an put hours of revision in. my class dropped from 15 to 3 because of the results and the remaining three of us have re sat the paper and got the same! my opinion dont do it! unless you love the subject so much. It is considered one of the hardest subjects xxxx
Reply 2
Original post by lil-mazie
I really want to do french A-level but my GCSE is an average C, i use to get Bs but we were given a REALLY bad teacher so i'm surprised that i even got a C, I want to know if it's any good so what do you do and are most of the student A*/A (actually stupid question i bet they are) Also i know it's not too late so i have been thinking if i work really hard to get the best grade how many hours should i do? The test is about 2 months away
Thanks in Advance
P.S feel free to give extra tips :biggrin:


It's difficult, but the above poster paints only a negative view of the language. You'll be expected to know the tenses from present-perfect-imperfect-future-conditional. Later, you will learn the pluperfect and at some point the subjunctive. There's a strong emphasis on grammar at A-level- little things that weren't important at GCSE become paramount in an AS/A-level exam.
I went to a school where French wasn't really important, however I loved the subject and took it on. I'll not lie- it took a lot of help, but I managed an A overall. I struggled immensely in the beginning because tenses where never taught in my previous school. With this said- try really hard to get the grades to do A-level and as soon as your exams finish in June find a tutor or someone who has done A-level to teach you the little GCSE nuances that you must know.

Please do not be put off! If you really want to do it, the class is there for you do to. Think how disappointing it would be if you didn't do it and some of your friends started to tell you how brilliant it was?

Bonne chance!
Reply 3
Alooooors, I don't think it's as hard as people say it is.
I think the worst things are:
being expected to have an opinion on absolutely everything, it sort of feels like gen studies just in another language.
Having more homework than other subjects but having said that it is like doing your coursework in bits because you can learn the things that you've written for the writing paper/speaking exam..
Participation is a must you can't really flag because you'll probably have an uber small class and you have to answer spoken questions from the teacher (usually with some prep time b4hand)

But if you really love languages and/or French then go for it the teachers and every1 else know that GCSE is just a lot of memorising really. It's a really respected qualification alevel french. i recently found a website that gave you 700 reasons to study languages... LOL A lot of the topics will be similar to before e.g. holidays so you might be able to remember things from now next year.
Original post by rac1
I think the worst things are:
being expected to have an opinion on absolutely everything, it sort of feels like gen studies just in another language.


Exactly! I hate that, it's soo irritating. For some of the topics e.g. marriage, i just don't know what i want to say in english, never mind french!

OT: But yeah, it is a very good A level to have if you succeed, languages are becoming more and more respected with universities and employers and they're sooo fun :biggrin:. I'm doing german as well and they're both great, I do recommend a language if you enjoy it and feel like you're going to work hard for it! Also, the classes are so small so you learn a lot more! My french class consists of only 4 people, including myself.

If you're worried about difficulty, have a word with one of the teachers and try and work for a good grade at GSCE!

Bonne chance!
Original post by lil-mazie
I really want to do french A-level but my GCSE is an average C, i use to get Bs but we were given a REALLY bad teacher so i'm surprised that i even got a C, I want to know if it's any good so what do you do and are most of the student A*/A (actually stupid question i bet they are) Also i know it's not too late so i have been thinking if i work really hard to get the best grade how many hours should i do? The test is about 2 months away
Thanks in Advance
P.S feel free to give extra tips :biggrin:


If you're willing to work really hard, and I mean really hard, then you should take it because it's a very rewarding thing to do.

The only person who got less than an A* at GCSE dropped out after a few weeks and even then half the class got a C or less in the A level. That said, the first person who replied to you really is overstating the difficulty of A level. The biggest jumps are probably the need to speak in a slightly less contrived atmosphere for the oral (not just memorising a controlled assessment) and a greater emphasis on grammar (that's not really saying much though because both GCSE and A Level don't actually give you a very thorough grounding in grammar, as many have learnt at uni).

I would say revising/learning the basic tenses thoroughly and how to conjugate different types of verbs in these tenses is a good starting point.
Reply 6
Original post by Scratchyjam
Exactly! I hate that, it's soo irritating. For some of the topics e.g. marriage, i just don't know what i want to say in english, never mind french!

OT: But yeah, it is a very good A level to have if you succeed, languages are becoming more and more respected with universities and employers and they're sooo fun :biggrin:. I'm doing german as well and they're both great, I do recommend a language if you enjoy it and feel like you're going to work hard for it! Also, the classes are so small so you learn a lot more! My french class consists of only 4 people, including myself.

If you're worried about difficulty, have a word with one of the teachers and try and work for a good grade at GSCE!

Bonne chance!


we haven't done marriage yet:eek:
3 in my class!

I need to work on making my accent sound less like a [insert robot smiley] pronunciation is good but the examiners can be funny on this my teachers have told me this.
Reply 7
Thanks everyone but I started studying french in year 9, I never cared for it but recently I just ended up loving it I know I'm not good but something makes me want to do it with all the mixed answers I'm even more confuse. I have an interview to my 1st choice sixth form and I don't know if i should say i want to carry on or just do something else????
Reply 8
Original post by lil-mazie
Thanks everyone but I started studying french in year 9, I never cared for it but recently I just ended up loving it I know I'm not good but something makes me want to do it with all the mixed answers I'm even more confuse. I have an interview to my 1st choice sixth form and I don't know if i should say i want to carry on or just do something else????


I think you should do some more independent work and see how much you like it. I have to say that in year 6 I wasn't fussed, in year 7 i hated it, in year 8 i mostly didn't like it occasionally really like it, in year 9 i'd never hated it more, year 10 and 11 i liked it most of the time sortof, now i have realised i prefer it outside of the school environment, less homework:smile::wink:
Reply 9
Original post by qwertyuiop1993
The only person who got less than an A* at GCSE dropped out after a few weeks and even then half the class got a C or less in the A level.


Sorry, the way you worded this has confused me a little. Do you mean that there was just one person who achieved below an A* at GCSE who dropped out, or do you mean one person out of a group of people who didn't get A*s at GCSE dropped out? I'm just interested to know whether there are many people who don't get A*s who take A Level. I'm hoping to achieve an A* overall in my GCSE this Summer, and the college I'll be going to says you need to get at least a B to do the A Level.

Are the classes really as small as you guys say? I'm surprised that there's less than 10 in most of your classes. Is it that you go to small colleges, is it that French isn't popular, or is it that so many people drop out?
Original post by Globox
Sorry, the way you worded this has confused me a little. Do you mean that there was just one person who achieved below an A* at GCSE who dropped out, or do you mean one person out of a group of people who didn't get A*s at GCSE dropped out? I'm just interested to know whether there are many people who don't get A*s who take A Level. I'm hoping to achieve an A* overall in my GCSE this Summer, and the college I'll be going to says you need to get at least a B to do the A Level.

Are the classes really as small as you guys say? I'm surprised that there's less than 10 in most of your classes. Is it that you go to small colleges, is it that French isn't popular, or is it that so many people drop out?


I meant that in the whole A level class only one person hadn't obtained an A* at GCSE and she eventually dropped out (That is not to say that she couldn't have done well - it was partly struggling, partly not getting on with the teacher).

As for a B being the minimum requirement; I think that's a little optimistic. The problem is even an A* at GCSE might not mean you are suitable because, quite frankly, you do not need to know a lot of French to get an A*. However if you're comfortably getting high A*s then there is nothing to worry about.

I went to a school with about 1000 students but not many people were interested in French or modern languages in general. There was only one person doing German A2 in my year....he had 3 members of staff teaching him exclusively in his lessons...

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